Tools for connecting electrical conductors to IDC terminals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,390 which issued Apr. 2, 1974 to Johnston and U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,695 which issued Apr. 16, 1974 to Tucci, both of which are incorporated by reference as though set forth verbatim herein. The tools disclosed in these two patents are similar in that they include a connector holder, a pair of pivotal jigs having comb members for positioning and holding the conductors to be terminated, and a pair of arms, each carrying a tooling plate containing conductor insertion elements and shearing edges. Each arm has a handle for manually gripping and pivoting the arms so that the tooling plate elements engage and terminate the conductors in the IDC terminals of the connector. Such tools, typically, are suitable for shearing and inserting up to about 50 conductors of 24 gage wire. This combination requires an actuation force on the handles of about 30 pounds, which is about the maximum force that can be reasonably expected of an average operator over the course of a normal work day. When the connector has more than 50 positions or the conductors are greater than 24 gage or the insulation is particularly firm, and the combination results in a required actuation force substantially greater than 30 pounds, these tools are not suitable.
What is needed is a manually actuatable tool for terminating these larger size connectors and larger gage wires while keeping the required operator force below 30 pounds without sacrificing ease and speed of operation of the tool.